Possible EL70 damage?

[von.ah]

I've discovered that there is some distortion on one of the four EL70s I have in my microtowers... Since it is only one, I'm inclined to believe that it has been damaged, though I have certainly not abused them. It is possible one of my kids (4 and 2) cranked up the volume once in the recent past without me knowing...

The sound is like occasional static with lessened bass on the particular driver compared to the rest.

I plan on pulling the driver to take a look at the connections in the lucky chance something has come loose, but I'm not hopeful on this... I'll also re-re-check all the external connections.

Now I've forgotten whatever question I was going to ask, so this is just a lament thread.

[silverhairbp]

If the driver is one mounted so as to fire forward, try rotating the drive 180 degrees on the baffle so that gravity is pulling the cone in the opposite direction. If it is firing vertically, try reversing the direction (firing into the enclosure instead of out) and wiring it backwards to stay in phase.

In either case, give it a little while before you try to replace it. Sometimes gravity will help return the alignment.

[von.ah]

Thanks for the suggestions. It is one of the front firing ones, and I'll try that after I expose it.

[mctavish]

Make sure it is not screwed in too tightly as well. I had the same problem with one of my MA drivers and less torque on the mounting screws solved it right away. I assume even minor flexing of the frame can affect the alignment of thr voice-coil motor assembly.

[Cal Weldon]

for both above suggestions

[evanc]

I hope it turns out to be something as simple as an overtightened mounting screw or poor connection. On the other hand if it is one of these things I'll feel bad because it was me who tightened the screws and made the connections.......

[planet10]

Originally Posted by mctavish

Make sure it is not screwed in too tightly as well.

+1

Any driver should only be tightened to just that point a real or imaginary washer does not spin -- a 1/4 turn less and it would.

dave

[von.ah]

Sweet. Thanks, all. Keeping my fingers crossed for the less-torque solution.
Not to worry Evan. Weird things happen with the voodoo that is conjuring music from electrons. Don't be so ready to fall on your router. I hadn't noticed until recently, so there are many possibilities.
I'll report back after I experiment.

[von.ah]

Great. Sigh. Of. Relief.
Backing off a little bit on the screws of the affected driver eliminated the distortion. Yay!

Maybe some weird coincidence of environmental factors made the screws *just* tight enough to bend the frame. Who knows?

Thanks everyone! The collective audio mind wins again.

[markaudio]

Hi Von, Guys,
Use a steel ruler (see pics - or similar straight edge) and eyeball the face of the frames. There should be no dips or twists in the frame surface. Gently adjust the screws to get a flat result. Also make sure the box mounting surface for the driver is level.

Thanks
Mark.